Annex III

Specially Designated Contributions and Other Trust Funds

A. Specially Designated Contributions

Specially Designated Contributions (SDCs) are for projects implemented by third parties and are earmarked donor contributions specifically for that purpose. These activities are not included in the OCHA Annual Plan and Budget. Income towards them is counted in neither the OCHA total donor income, nor in its donor ranking tables. SDCs consist of UNDAC Mission Accounts, Natural Disaster Activities (emergency cash grants), Relief Stock Items, Emergency Response Funds and Third Party Grants (ProCap, GenCap, Juba Initiative Project and other grants).

Programme support charges levied from expenditure for SDC projects are spent, inter alia, on the administrative costs of managing these projects. In most cases, programme support charges are levied at 3 percent on SDCs.

UNDAC Mission Accounts: Member States deposit funding with OCHA, which is used to deploy their nationals on UNDAC missions. Thirty Member States currently hold UNDAC Mission Accounts with OCHA.

Natural Disaster Activities: These are funds held in pre-positioned reserve accounts by eight donors and drawn on to provide emergency cash grants to United Nations agencies and NGOs in natural disasters. OCHA manages the grants and releases them at the RC’s request in order to provide immediate support for relief operations responding to natural, environmental and technological disaster situations. An individual project account is created per disaster to enable the issuance of financial authorizations, maintenance of grant balances and preparation of Statements of Accounts for each natural disaster project. Unspent funds are returned to the Pre-Positioned Funds account.

Relief Stock Items: These are funds used to purchase and manage OCHA relief stocks held in the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot.

Emergency Response Funds (ERFs): ERFs are country-level pooled funds, managed under OCHA auspices. Funds held in ERFs are released by the HC to NGOs and United Nations agencies for response to rapidly evolving needs on the ground. In 2009, OCHA managed ERFs in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, oPt, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The ProCap and GenCap Rosters: This is flow-through funding for ProCap and GenCap, covering the management and deployment of senior protection officers and senior gender advisers by the Norwegian Refugee Council. (ProCap and GenCap Secretariat costs appear in the OCHA budget since they are not flow-through costs.)

The Juba Initiative Project (JIP): JIP was established in 2006 to support the Peace Secretariat and Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team of the Juba Peace Talks. JIP was set up to channel donor support to the peace process that formally ended on 31 May 2008. Activity against the project in 2009 was related to the cancellation of two pledges by donors, previously recorded as income to OCHA in 2008. The project is now closed.

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In 2009, the greater portion of SDCs was made to the ERFs ($84 million or 94 per cent). The funding that key contributing donors allocated to ERFs remained roughly constant in donor currency, although a strengthening dollar reduced the US dollar income to ERFs in 2009, as compared with 2008. OCHA opened five new ERFs in 2009: Afghanistan, Colombia, Kenya, Nepal and Uganda. This brought the total number of ERFs in 2009 to 16. Of the $84 million contributed to ERFs in 2009, about half went to the HRF in Ethiopia. This amount is similar to the distribution in 2008. No funds were received for the Haiti and Nepal ERFs in 2009. The CAR, DRC and Sudan ERFs were funded by the in-country Common Humanitarian Funds. The funds managed through these ERFs do not pass through OCHA’s accounts. Funding to the oPt ERF tripled from 2008, in large part responding to the Gaza crisis of late 2008/early 2009. Funding for the Indonesia ERF also tripled from 2008 in response to the 2009 earthquake. A total of $16.8 million of the total contributed to the ERFs in 2009 was pledged but not yet disbursed as at the closing of accounts.

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The Afghanistan Emergency Trust Fund was established in June 1988 by the Secretary-General to support humanitarian activities in Afghanistan. In its later life, the fund supported the Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and through two memoranda of understanding. The first provided grants to NGOs working to address rehabilitation needs, while the second supported humanitarian and economic development activities.

In 2009, expenditure for the Afghanistan Emergency Trust Fund amounted to $1.5 million. The 31 December 2009 closing balance was $1.1 million. Activities are projected to cease in 2010, with the fund closing within the 2010-2011 biennium.

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The Tsunami Trust Fund was established following the tsunami of 26 December 2004. The fund financed activities undertaken in the course of coordinating humanitarian action in relation to the earthquake and tsunami, including the provision of relief to victims as well as longer-term infrastructure development. During its closing stages, remaining funds were used to support UNDP’s development activities. The fund is projected for closure in 2010.

In 2009, expenditure for the Tsunami Trust Fund amounted to $421,115. Its closing balance at 31 December 2009 was $3.4 million.